The Depth Of Their GreedNathan’s has never made a bigger hot dog than Bob Murray, co-owner of Murray
Energy’s Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah. Selflessly appearing before
any camera in sight he explained to the world that an “earthquake” had trapped
six miners in his mine and that seismic activity hampered the rescue effort. Of
course, Thursday evening another “seismic event” killed three rescue workers and
injured several more, leading to an indefinite halt in the attempt to tunnel to
the original six.

This small time coal baron counted on most of us being
familiar with terms such as seismic, and Richter Scale, only in the context of
natural earthquakes, caused mainly by shifts in tectonic plates. Scientists
monitoring the area are universally agreed no such natural geological upheaval
happened. The disturbances showing up on their Seismometers were no act of
God–the mountain was violently reacting to the mining practices of Murray
Energy.

My friend Andy Pollack in New York alerted me to the
following paragraphs in a Washington Post story–which quickly disappeared
from their site:

“The shaking of the earth, called a ‘mountain bump,’ is a
reaction to mining coal nearly 2,000-feet underground, Davitt McAteer, former
assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, told CNN.

“Emptying the mountain of its seam of coal, which is
relatively soft, causes pressure on other rock, which squeezes debris into the
mine's tunnels in sudden bursts, McAteer said.

“‘Mother Nature is trying to rectify the fact that you've
put these holes in the ground,’ McAteer said. ‘The question is whether you
should be in there mining’ at all.”

Of course, the question for the likes of Bob Murray is
“can profits be made from sending these men twice as deep as the Empire State
Building is tall?”The answer from that perspective is yes. Despite the fact that
coal is far and away the dirtiest energy alternative in this time of global
warming the global economy can’t get enough of it. American coal production is
at an all time high.

Murray has not only gone deeper than anyone else in this
country. There are credible reports that, despite his denial, his mines use
so-called “retreat mining.” This is an extremely dangerous practice of using
pillars of coal–instead of wood or steel–to brace roofs of mined areas which are
then intentionally collapsed as the coal plays out. This allows them to scoop up
every last morsel of coal while wasting no other materials. This would be a good
training exercise for those planning on becoming suicide bombers.

MSHA, especially under the current administration, has
proven to be ineffective in protecting miners’ lives. Those working in union
mines have additional safeguards through the power and knowledge of their
organization. Unfortunately, the UMWA ranks have been dwindling due to industry
restructuring and represent less than twenty percent of working miners today.

The coal bosses are determined to keep it that way. Murray
is so fearful of unionization he refused the UMWA’s offer to send in its crack
rescue team to help safely reach the trapped miners.

“America, even if it shifts to the left, will still be a
conservative force on the international stage. Mrs Clinton might be portrayed as
a communist on talk radio in Kansas, but set her alongside France's Nicolas
Sarkozy, Germany's Angela Merkel, Britain's David Cameron or any other supposed
European conservative, and on virtually every significant issue Mrs Clinton is
the more right-wing. She also mentions God more often than the average European
bishop. As for foreign policy, the main Democratic candidates are equally
staunch in their support of Israel; none of them has ruled out attacking Iran;
Mr Obama might take a shot at Pakistan; and few of them want to cede power to
multilateral organisations.”

We Should Live So LongIn the early nineties those of us promoting a then promising campaign
for single-payer used to say “it’s a disgrace that our country is first in
health care spending and 11th in life expectancy.” Well, we can’t make that
argument any more. We are, of course, still many laps ahead of our nearest rival
in spending. But the USA is now 42nd in average life span. The highest
rates are in western Europe, Japan and Singapore but even our Canadian neighbors
outlive us by more than two years.

After the AP broke the story on this remarkable relative
decline in one of the most fundamental measures of health the New York Times
offered up an editorial, “World’s Best Medical Care?” They make some telling
points in the inadequacies of our failed system. They point out those other
forty-one countries with better records “provide universal health coverage, and
most of them have comprehensive benefit packages with no cost-sharing by the
patients.”

Unfortunately, the Times doesn’t advocate our
country take the same path. Instead they offer the same half measures as the
mainstream politicians who brought us where we are today–reduce, not
eliminate, the number of uninsured, along with better use of profit-making
technology in coordinating services, maintaining records, etc.

That’s sort of like telling the Hummer owner that they’ll
get closer to the hybrid’s fuel economy if they lose ten pounds and wash their
vehicle regularly. The gas guzzler that passes for our health care system is
unsafe at any speed. We need a new vehicle, with an efficient power plant under
the hood and air bags that protect all passengers. The only model currently
available is called single-payer. Its product number in the congressional
catalogue is HR676.

Some are fighting to translate the public outrage stoked
by Michael Moore’s SiCKO into a movement that can make the sea change
required in American health care. It’s hard to keep up with the e-mail list of
SPAN Ohio, the coalition of unions and community organizations working for
single-payer in that state, with reports of interventions in hearings, community
meetings, and articles in the local press. The All Unions Committee for Single
Payer has passed the 300 mark in their goal of getting one thousand union
endorsements of HR676. The rest of us should not only praise these efforts but
also try to emulate them.

Clericals Prepare Lesson Plan at U
of MFour years ago AFSCME Local 3800 at the University of Minnesota Twin
Cities campus carried out a 15-day strike that departed from today’s norms of
collective bargaining. They didn’t try to convince their bosses they were
“partners.” Instead they insisted they were entitled to fair compensation for
their labor–which they were prepared to withhold until a suitable agreement
could be reached. The members had been kept well informed all through
negotiations, knew the issues in dispute, and were prepared to back their
elected leaders. More than that, they reached out to students who would be
affected, took their case to the community, and secured the active support of
the rest of the labor movement. At the end of the day they got a settlement they
could be proud of.

Now it appears the administration is due for some remedial
education. Emboldened by the success of the private sector bosses they serve and
imitate, the University management is again playing hard ball with AFSCME. They
hope 2003 was a fluke and they can put the uppity clerical workers back in their
place.

The university is not poor. Over the past five years
inflation adjusted administrative salaries have increased by an average of 27
percent. Faculty salaries have increased 19 percent. But wages for clerical,
technical and health care workers have dropped 4.8 percent over the past
five years compared to inflation. The “settlement offer” by the administration,
to what is now a joint negotiation with four AFSCME locals on several campuses,
would offer more of the same. The leadership is recommending, and expects to
get, a resounding membership vote to reject–and to authorize a strike.

“Community support was crucial to
the success of the strike by AFSCME 3800 in 2003. This year, all the University
AFSCME locals need your support again. We are asking our supporters on campus,
in the community, and in the labor movement to help us win a contract that our
members, and our members' families, can live with.”

An initial support committee
meeting was held yesterday in Minneapolis. This fight by 3500 clerical, health
care, and technical workers shaping up in Minnesota warrants wide attention and
deserves solidarity support.